The first time i learned about the bordeaux negoce system I was confused because you have the negociants and the courtier and basically they have a monopoly on the market they have all the power I understand why the negociants are important but like what about the courtiers they littererly do nothing and are being payed 2% like wineries can go straight to the negociants why do they have to pass by the courtier?
Or why can’t wineries do their negoce In house and sell directly why do they have to pass by a third party.
And I also heard that they passed a law that prohibits producer to market their wines on television.
Like what is going on here
Tbh, a chateau like Lafitte that might produce ten or twenty thousand cases a year don’t want to be dealing with even selling small parcels of 25-50 cases a time to merchants
They’re just not really set up for it historically and while they clild invest in the staff to do it now as a direct to retailer model, not all chateau could afford it.
Chasing payments, increasing/decreasing allocations, etc, across hundreds or thousands of end retailers would be a nightmare, and for the sake of like 10%, better outsourced?
Not that I think the system is perfect, btw. Any system where a manufacturer considers it a success because their distributors have, potentially reluctantly, agreed to take all the stock but end customers don’t buy a single item is broken
I see your point of view but this justifies the negocient and not the courtier
thats probably stooped in some historic thing which is now just protected out of tradition more than anything, but will leave it to others to comment!
It’s actually uncomplicated, cost affective, and quite efficient. It saves consumers time, and money.
For a detailed explanation on the negociant system …
I am of the opinion a national importer would be more efficient as it would likely create transparent timelines, consistent pricing across markets, and clear inventory availability. There’s a reason why some of the best producers in the world are aligned nationally with specific importers. I understand the free market approach of multiple sellers, and maybe that is the upside, but speaking for my market it’s almost impossible to find BDX at reasonable prices since wholesalers don’t buy en premieur, a national importer would give the distributor more peace of mind to buy only what they can sell.